A local lawmaker and other legislators this week filed bills that could eventually affect a proposed Municipal Service District for downtown Wilmington.
One of the major provisions allows property owners to seek exemptions from such service districts from their city councils.
Rep. Ted Davis (R-New Hanover) filed the special service district bill in the N.C. House. Davis said Thursday that Wilmington's MSD proposal was not one of the factors that led to the introduction of the bill, which has been in the works for several months as legislative committees have studied the issue.
Although lawmakers might approve the bill after Wilmington officials vote on the MSD proposal, the bill allows property owners to ask to opt out even after MSDs are established.
"I feel like someone may say, 'Well, you know, I don't object to you doing a Municipal Service District because it may help others, but it doesn't really help me,'" Davis said.
Municipal service districts primarily are areas, not always in downtowns, where an additional property tax is charged for services, such as beautification, marketing and safety efforts, beyond what cities already provide.
Wilmington’s proposed Municipal Service District would be the Central Business District downtown, where owners would be charge a rate of 7 cents per $100 of assessed value, creating a budget of $275,000. The MSD would also be subject to a citizens' oversight committee.
Ed Wolverton, president and CEO of Wilmington Downtown Inc., said Sen. Trudy Wade (R-Guilford), who was one of the lawmakers who filed the bill in the Senate, and others have been discussing the changes since last session.
“She (Wade) has been working to improve accounting and transparency for municipal service districts across the state,” Wolverton said Thursday.
Measures that require accountability and transparency are also included in the bills, Davis said, in addition to allowing owners to opt out of districts if city councils approve their requests. The legislation also would allow property owners in a particular area to petition city councils to create those districts. Currently, they're only considered when a city council brings them up, he said. Two hearing are required under the proposed bills.
Some downtown Wilmington business and property owners have expressed opposition to the MSD and are in the process of gathering names on a petition that could potentially put the issue on November’s ballot.
Wolverton said the proposed legislation “may relieve some anxiety from some people…If it’s not delivering what it needs to do to benefit their property, then that provides an avenue to separate out.”
Bill Jahn, whose condominium is in the proposed MSD and who has attended several meetings in recent months on the proposal, said he has seen "a huge amount of opposition at every single one of these meetings."
He said the city would be better off hiring two additional police officers rather than five ambassadors, included as part of the MSD proposal as a way to address safety and other concerns downtown.
The Wilmington City Council is expected to consider the downtown MSD proposal in June.
